The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS) Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program is responsible for the management of the online Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB). HSDB, a part of NLM's Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET ® ), is a file of chemical/substance information with one record for each specific chemical or substance, or for a category of chemicals or substances. Like the rest of TOXNET's databases and other resources, HSDB is available online at no cost to global users. HSDB has approximately 5,600 chemicals and substances, with a focus on toxicology information and also on human exposure, industrial hygiene, emergency handling procedures, environmental fate, regulatory requirements, and related areas of likely interest to HSDB users. All data are from a core set of books, government documents, technical reports, selected primary journal literature, and other online sources of information, with a goal of linking the HSDB content to as much publicly available information as possible. HSDB's content is peer-reviewed by a Scientific Review Panel of experts covering the scope of HSDB content. Recent enhancements include the addition of chemical structures to HSDB records, the addition of new subfields such as age groups for human data, more occupational exposure standards, and the addition of information on numerous nanomaterials. Examples of future plans include providing more exposure-related information, e.g., uses of a chemical or substance in consumer products; the addition of information summaries aimed towards consumers and other members of the public wanting to learn about a chemical or substance; more visual content such as diagrams (images) of the pathways of metabolism of a substance; and enhanced search features and navigation.

The Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), a factual data bank on the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) TOXNET (Toxicology Data Network) online system, provides information in areas such as chemical substance identification, chemical and physical properties, safety and handling, toxicology, pharmacology, environmental fate and transformation, regulations, and analytical methodology. This article discusses how environmental fate data is handled in HSDB.

The Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program, managed by the National Library of Medicine's Division of Specialized Information Services, provides access to a number of online bibliographic and factual computer files concerned with the toxicology, safety and handling, and environmental fate of chemicals, along with other files that cover genetic toxicology, developmental and reproductive toxicology, mutagenesis, carcinogenesis and toxic chemical releases.

Toxinology is the scientific study of substances produced by living organisms, either delivered as venom, or otherwise residing within the tissues of animals, plants, mushrooms, and bacteria, and which may harm target organisms. Nomenclature and taxonomic issues related to toxinology are necessary prerequisites to precise retrieval and accurate interpretation of the online research and clinical literature. General guidelines to help ascertain the quality of studies are provided, and the challenge of characterizing the toxicity of the toxins is addressed. Information resources, ranging from professional societies to journals and books, as well as databases and other web resources are itemized.

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